I’m a compassionate, open, empathetic human being, committed to working for a world that works for everyone.
STOP! I call bullshit. Something smells a little fishy.
The truth is, I’m only compassionate, open and empathetic if you vote the way I vote.
The little voice in my head returned, snarky and filled with accusation. ‘Step aside. Give someone else a chance. You’ve had your time.’ It was true—how delicious would it be to watch a twenty-something step up to the plate!
The political strategist Frank Luntz, wrote a confidential memo to the Republican Party in 2003 and advised them to replace the phrase “global warming” with the less threatening, more benign expression, “climate change.”
I got lonely on my soapbox, like I was some kind of super hero, my cape flapping in the breeze. The moniker, Climate Change Warrior, started to weigh on me. It felt aggressive and combative.
It was quiet in my growing up house. We closed the front door with silent deliberation and spoke to one another in soft tones. My parents didn’t raise their voices, either in anger or delight. We kept our feelings of fear, grief, sadness, even joy, corseted close, as if their release would tip the earth from her axis. Tears happened in muffled sobs in the corner of a bedroom. There was no room for anger.
